Ultra-processed food narratives in social media forum posts: a content analysis of Reddit threads

Ultra-processed food (UPF) production and consumption, associated with chronic disease and environmental degradation, is increasing globally. The UPF concept has gained public attention in recent years and has raised concerns of confusion among the public. This study aimed to explore Reddit-a popular online forum platform-discussions about UPFs to identify the main topics of discussion and how UPFs are discussed. A descriptive constructivist approach to qualitative content analysis was used to analyse threads from the r/ultraprocessedfood subreddit, with over 34 000 subscribers. The 'top' 50 threads from the subreddit (i.e. threads with highest engagement) were collected in January 2025. A coding framework was developed deductively to capture a range of UPF issues, including impacts and causal mechanisms. Two authors coded 50 threads comprised of 2730 comments and posted between 2023 and 2025. The most frequently discussed topic was food [n = 45 (90%) threads, n = 1188 (43.5%) comments], followed by dietary patterns [n = 37 (74%) threads, n = 415 (15.2%) comments], health [n = 43 (86%) threads, n = 404 (14.8%) comments], food system [n = 34 (68%) threads, n = 323 (11.8%) comments], and nutri-biochemical components [n = 34 (68%) threads, n = 322 (11.8%) comments]. The least discussed topic was planetary health [n = 13 (26%) threads, n = 25 (0.9%) comments]. Most comments contained information (n = 2,088, 76.5%) or personal strategies/experiences (n = 901, 33%), with a smaller number containing questions (n = 315, 11.5%) or expressing confusion (n = 15, 0.01%). Reddit users often expressed a love for cooking and anger towards unethical food industry practices and UPF harms. Public health communications may benefit from framing UPF messaging around social justice. This paper includes discussion of disordered eating.